Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) is showcasing its
KDDX Destroyer project for the first time outside South Korea At Indo
Defence 2014, the international defence exhibition currently held in
Jakarta. Navy Recognition gathered the latest details on the
future Republic of Korea Navy (ROK Navy) Destroyer.

KDDX Destroyer model on DSME stand at Indo Defence 2014

According
to a DSME representative at Indo Defence, the KDDX is being developped
as a smaller, more compact and more stealthy follow on to the AEGIS
KDX-III destroyers. The main requirements from the ROK Navy are lower
maintenance and operating costs than KDX-III, which are based on the
U.S. Navy's Burke class destroyers.

Detailed view of the KDDX radar mast at Indo Defence 2014

Based
on the model (and confirmed by two DSME representatives at Indo Defence),
the KDDX will be fitted with 16x SSM-700K Haeseong (C-Star) Anti-ship
Missile launchers, 48x vertical launch systems at the bow (MK41 from Lockheed
Martin or some Korean VLS under development by Doosan) for surface to
air missiles, 16x larger K-VLS back aft. This could not be confirmed at
Indo Defence, but Navy Recognition believes these larger K-VLS
will be used to store and launch LIG Nex1's Hyunmoo-3C land attack cruise
missiles with a range of about 1,500 km. There are speculations in South
Korea that there will also be an anti-ship version of the Hyunmoo missile.
A Phalanx CIWS is fitted on top of the dual helicopter hangar.

For anti-submarine warfare, the class is expected to be fitted with bow
and towed array sonars, and with torpedo launcher as well as K-ASROC (for
Anti-Submarine ROCket).

KDDX will be fitted with Lockheed Martin's AEGIS SPY-1 radar or some equivalent,
possibly a similar AESA phased array radar from Samsung-Thales, on an
integrated mast to reduce radar cross section.

KDDX Destroyer model on DSME stand at Indo Defence 2014

KDDX
will have a crew of about 180 sailors. We were told the propulsion system
will be CODAG (Combined Diesel and Gas) but that many of the subsystems
and peripheral equipment will be selected at a much later date.

Displacement of the class is set to be about 8,000 tons, length 155 meters,
breadth 18.8 meters and draft 9.5 meters.